Old Fangs Short Film Review

Old Fangs from adrien merigeau on Vimeo.

This short animated film seems to be the story of the son of the Big Bag Wolf attempting to reconnect with his estranged father. The main character, here a young wolf, takes a couple of friends along on a trip to a house deep in the forest where his father lives. His friends express their concerns and ask him if he even knows where he's going as they venture deeper into the dark woods. The entire film is done in a rather dark and moody sort of way that underscores the bad relationship the character has with his father.

They arrive at the house and the young wolf has a very frightening and strained visit with the Big Bad Wolf. The father figure is represented as being huge and terrifying with grotesque features and a grumbling, hulking presence. He smokes constantly and the chair and floor beneath him creak under his weight. The young wolf leaves after a while and that's really about all that happens.

The film was heavy on tone and light on story and details. It felt like a mood piece, like an exercise in conveying as much atmosphere and emotion with a minimum of dialogue and exposition. If this was their goal, then the filmmakers have succeeded. This is a very dark and emotional story told in an interesting way.